Marvel.com Blogs - Blah Blah Blog by Tom Brevoort

BLOGS HOME|COMIC BLOGS|VIDEO GAME BLOGS|OTHER BLOGS|MARVEL NEWS

Acceptance
2008-04-22 16:22:40

IRON MAN at MSG

For years, one of the major goals of comics fandom in general was gaining acceptance for the art form, getting to a point where reading a comic book in public wouldn't mark you as some kind of intellectual defective. And maybe I'm just feeling upbeat coming out of the New York show, but I think that, in large measure, we've made it.

At this point, comics and comic book derived properties rule the roost in terms of popular culture. A glance at this summer's slate of blockbuster movies proves it. And where at one time you might find one or two books of comics-derived material haphazardly tossed in among the humor section in your local bookstore, nowadays there isn't a bookseller who doesn't stock a wide selection of trade paperbacks, hardcovers and books about comics. And that's not even factoring in manga.

The free-flow of creators back and forth from more respectable media has helped to legitimize comics as well. With people like Joss Whedon, Brad Meltzer, Jonathan Lethem, Orson Scott Card, Kevin Smith, Jodi Picoult, J. Michael Straczynski, Stephen King and others of that caliber all contributing work on a more and more regular basis, it's become all the more difficult for anybody to denigrate the work we do. And the flipside is true, too, as filmmakers pull more and more of their inspiration more and more obviously from comic book stylings (and creators such as Frank Miller are beginning to become known as much for their motion picture directing chops as their graphic novel work.)

Magazines like Entertainment Weeky have begun covering comic book news on a regular basis, and with the same sort of zeal they'd apply to movies or television programs. And sites like MySpace are actively seeking out exclusive preview content, as they've realized how it can drive eyeballs and attention to where they are.

Now, it's not all sweetness and light, of course, and not every single person has gotten the message. But the penetration of the material we produce has become widespread and mainstream to a degree we could only dream about when I started in the business eighteen years ago. There's still plenty to do--including conquering the inevitable switch to digital media that's looming in the future of every company that produces entertainment of any sort. But some genuine strides have been made, and the future looks bright.

Heck, just take a look at this enormous banner of the Iron Man movie that's hanging from Madison Square Garden. Tell me there's somebody in this city that doesn't know this movie is coming--and that it's based on a Marvel comic.

More later.

Tom B

Acceptance
May I also point to the growing number of school and public librarians, as well as teachers, who are making graphic novels and comics available to readers in libraries and classrooms? When I first started in library work, comics were still "for kids" and many people thought "graphic novels" meant print-only books that had adult-level sexual and violent content. Now School Library Journal publishes reviews of graphic novels every other month, and librarians are offering seminars on graphic novel collection development.

Yet another reason I love my job. :-)

Posted by Seldes Katne on 2008-04-22 18:06:25

Credits Question
Dear Mr. Brevoort:

What's the difference between "colorist" & "color artist"?
Is "color art" short for "color artist" or is it something different?
Please explain.

BTW, my local library has expanded its graphic novels section from just one bookcase in the science fiction section -- not counting individual series shelved with novels in the young adult section. I'm 53 and remember spending my junior year of high school with no new comics (except for ones to which I already had subscriptions or issues I talked my younger siblings into buying me for my birthday/Christmas), because my father thought I was too old to be reading comics.
Luckily, he gave in a year later when I told him it had been a year and I still wanted to read them.

Posted by Ann E. Nichols on 2008-04-22 19:46:01

Comics vs "Marvel Comics"
Hey Tom,

Having seen the Iron Man premiere in Sydney last week, I noticed this from your blog and thought it interesting:

"Heck, just take a look at this enormous banner of the Iron Man movie that's hanging from Madison Square Garden. Tell me there's somebody in this city that doesn't know this movie is coming--and that it's based on a Marvel comic."

Now, I think the film was great, and will do tremendously well at the box office. But I don't think that "Marvel" as a brand will necessarily be associated with Iron man as much as "Comic Book" will be. Maybe it's an Australian thing, but there isn't necessarily the distinction between Marvel & DC down here amongst the non-comic buying/consuming public. I work in the arts industry, and frequently display Marvel legends figures on my desk. Yet co-workers always ask "Where's Wonder Woman?" or Batman etc etc. There's no distinction made between publishers. I assume that it's fairly similar with movie studios...the public aren't necessarily aware that Warner Bros or Sony Pictures are behind a franchise.

Anyway, just my thoughts on branding. Obviously it is important, but I do feel we overstate the importance to some extent.

Posted by keense on 2008-04-22 22:38:13

hey tom
i just wanted to say its good to be living in the marvel age!!!
last weeks stack was awesome, and avengers initiative kicked @!&$#&!*
cant wait to get my hands on hulk # 3

Posted by peterparker4907 on 2008-04-23 01:33:18

i mean avengers initiative kicked butt!

Posted by peterparker4907 on 2008-04-23 01:36:39

man you scared me...

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-04-23 02:21:43

ever heard about Alexandro Jodorowsky's works ?

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-04-23 02:22:16

don't worry be happy ?
really, I've been waited similar releases all my life (X-Men on screen and so on ) and now,
now you just scared me.

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-04-23 02:24:27

but you're right :
the 'Tony Stark Complex' will be teach in schools.

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-04-23 02:42:42

anything planned for a 'Power Pack' movie ?

Posted by notapotatoe on 2008-04-23 09:45:37

Acceptance
I think acceptance came a while ago with the success of Manga,
the numerous productions of graphic novels into successful films,
and the success of the show Heroes.

As with Science Fiction though, there is always going to be a certain
so-called intellectual segment of society that rejects the entire medium as nothing more than insignificant pop-culture.

There is little you can do about people with narrow minds except ignore them, I suppose.

Posted by izzatrix on 2008-04-23 10:16:24

Well Said Seldes
While I may have grown up on Marvel Comics the future of the industry seems to be in the hands of librarians and booksellers and those companies and creators that are willing and able to create for a mass audience. I absolutely do not think we live in a culture that is ready to embrace the current comic offerings as another mass medium for entertainment but the seeds are being laid for the next generation. As we are still in the middle of the fanboy/ direct market era, there needs to be even better education that good material is out there. I only started reading because an animated commercial for GI Joe comics told me to go to my LCS, and then the Marvel covers of the era did the rest. I have yet to see mainstream ads for Iron Man comics whereas ads for sheets and sneakers and the like are everywhere. All said, exciting times for comics and for Marvel.

Posted by hamgravy on 2008-04-24 12:03:24

I was serious.I've waited all my life to see my heros on screen.
For the instance it's just still installation, discovery of the characters ( for the rest of the world I mean ) and they have to accomodate to these new archetypes.
We have to wait one or two another opus to have movies about the characters we like, close to the core of the comic-books stories they're coming from.
Movies.
Not video-games.

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-04-24 15:06:25

Enter a response to this blog post:

About this blog:
Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."

About the author:
Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.


save this link

More entries by this author:
It seems... (2008-07-03) (3 responses)
There was no... (2008-07-02) (13 responses)
Back from... (2008-07-01) (6 responses)
I read an... (2008-07-01) (13 responses)
A little bit... (2008-06-24) (13 responses)