Sunday, October 21, 2012

Marvel is a hack-grinding enterprise.

Coming down with a cold, dammit.

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As I tweeted yesterday, the thing about rewriting, I'm never sure if I'm making it better -- or worse.  It is really hard for me to get a sense of the book when I'm rewriting, and this is often where I lose faith.

Still, like the changes I make in the store, which I also often first doubt, I have to trust my instincts and assume that they are for the better.

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Is it just me, or have we had an inordinate amount of motorcycle carnage around here lately?  Seems like every few days.

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What I remember about the 1987 stock market crash? The absolute fear in the eyes of the reporters and those they interviewed.  They couldn't hide it.

Their fear is what scared me.

Two weeks later, it was as if it never happened.

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I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that one bad performance by Obama crashed his campaign.

Maybe he should have been like Romney and made dozens of gaffes all spring and summer, just to get it out of the way.

Or maybe, we're demanding he be perfect, but the other guy gets a pass.

Sorry, I said I wouldn't talk politics and this sounds whiny even to my ears.

I still think Obama will pull it out.  Romney is still Romney.

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There's a review in the Bulletin about a book about Marvel Comics, which sounds interesting.  MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY.

Except -- not to sound like a know-it-all, but I knew all that.  I was a first-hand witness/victim to 30 years of it.

The reviewer calls the comic 'fan press' -- "sycophantic, poorly sourced, craven" and I'll tell you who agrees with that assessment the most -- the 'fan press.'

I'd have to say that I've gotten most of the nuances over the years:  That Stan Lee isn't who he appears, that the Image creators thought they were geniuses and just turned into another round of corporate hacks, the most of the early creators pretty much got screwed. 

The corporate Marvel was the most horrifying part of it all -- once the likes of Ron Perelman and Isaac Perlmutter got their hands on Marvel, it was all but over -- except as a hack-grinding enterprise.

The characters created are so strong that good stories and art still come out of the hack-grinding enterprise.

But almost by accident.


4 comments:

H. Bruce Miller said...

Interestingly, The Bullshittin is holding off on its presidential endorsement. Wonder what's up with that.

Leitmotiv said...

@Bruce Miller - they'll wait till you're ready to cast your vote. Just like the Source Weekly.

@Duncan - this website has very good accuracy and the stats seem to slightly favor Obama: http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/

Anonymous said...

Stan Lee's biography is crap. I don't know what I was expecting when I read it, but it is a dull read. And... I really didn't need to know about how he lost his virginity...

Brett
Heroes Haven

Anonymous said...

I wonder how you felt about the term "Bullshittin" (clever!) when you worked there, H. Bruce. These terms, like "Bully" and saying the building resembles a prison, are a slap to your fellow journalists, AND, of course don't mean jack shit. But boy oh boy how the local sheep buy in ... kind of like when the idjits of Fox News kept pointing out that Kerry looked sort of French in ‘04 -- it takes on a gloss of truth.

Hey, you know what would be amazing?! If people spoke openly about your other former employer's (The Source) HUGE ethical failings. Shall I?