Post by scottharris on Jul 24, 2009 7:14:15 GMT -5
Over on Tom Brevoorts blog on the Marvel page, he's posted a very interesting memo that he prepared for his bosses in 2004 spelling out the challenges his line was facing and some of his thoughts on how to address them. Tom's been doing quite a bit of this recently, so if you haven't checked out his blog I recommend it. For instance, he recently posted the original outline that Bendis presented for Secret Invasion. It's interesting from a creative perspective, to see how the process works, and in some ways the original storyline was in my opinion better than what was published (not saying much). One ting that will interest and possibly tick off some of us here is that in the original plot, Jan didn't die at all. Instead, it was Hercules who died. It's kind of... well, I mean, it's obvious that the whole plan behind the death was that they needed someone to die to make it, I dunno, serious or shocking or something. It's particularly weird considering that not only was Hercules not killed, they ended up giving him his own title instead! Talk about a change of heart. My guess is that Jan was settled on because Slott or someone else decided there was story potential for Hank if she died, but it really seems even more arbitrary and random than before.
Anyway, I digress. The memo from 2004 also contains something of interest to use as Avengers fans. At the end, he gives his bosses the publishing schedule for the year 2004, and among the issues listed are Avengers #500 (listed as return to original numbering), 501, 502, 503... and then 504... 505, 506, 507, 508, 509...
Apparently at the time this memo was written, the entire Disassembled concept had not yet been developed. It's interesting because the last Chuck Austen issues (499 I guess? or 498?) are on the schedule also, with writer credits and some small details, indicating that everything right up to the point of Disassembled was already in the pipeline when the memo was written, and even at that fairly late stage, the plan was for Avengers to continue with the regular status quo and numbering. I'm wondering when and how the decision to do Disassembled came about, because form this it seems like a pretty sudden change in direction.
Anyway, it can be found here:
marvel.com/blogs/Tom_Brevoort/
I also want to note that I pretty much agree with a lot of Tom's commentary. In the Secret Invasion memo he stresses the dangers of bringing people back using skrulls and it's right on point. It's interesting that so much of the work Tom's writers are turning out is stuff I strongly dislike even though as an editor, he seems to hold beliefs that I usually agree with.
Anyway, I digress. The memo from 2004 also contains something of interest to use as Avengers fans. At the end, he gives his bosses the publishing schedule for the year 2004, and among the issues listed are Avengers #500 (listed as return to original numbering), 501, 502, 503... and then 504... 505, 506, 507, 508, 509...
Apparently at the time this memo was written, the entire Disassembled concept had not yet been developed. It's interesting because the last Chuck Austen issues (499 I guess? or 498?) are on the schedule also, with writer credits and some small details, indicating that everything right up to the point of Disassembled was already in the pipeline when the memo was written, and even at that fairly late stage, the plan was for Avengers to continue with the regular status quo and numbering. I'm wondering when and how the decision to do Disassembled came about, because form this it seems like a pretty sudden change in direction.
Anyway, it can be found here:
marvel.com/blogs/Tom_Brevoort/
I also want to note that I pretty much agree with a lot of Tom's commentary. In the Secret Invasion memo he stresses the dangers of bringing people back using skrulls and it's right on point. It's interesting that so much of the work Tom's writers are turning out is stuff I strongly dislike even though as an editor, he seems to hold beliefs that I usually agree with.
