NOTE: The individual opinions of each Roundtable contributor is their own, and is not representative of anybody but that contributor.
Ultimate Iron Man will launch in 2005 with art by Andy Kubert and with an unknown writer, hinted to be Orson Scott Card, writer of The Ender’s Game novel
Jamie Hatton (Occasional writer of Diner Talk & Nexus reviewer): Go Andy Kubert! Go Orson Scott Card?! What an interesting choice. I’ll have to do some research to see if Card’s ever done any comic work, but any good sci-fi/fantasy writer has a good shot at putting together a decent Fantastic Four story as long as they realize that they are writing to comic fans as a general populous who might or might not
enjoy a heavy sci-fi story.
Iain Burnside (He used to work here): Surprised to see that Marvel are entrusting an Ultimate title, particularly one involving a major character, to an unknown writer. Equally surprised to see that Iron Man beat Captain America to the punch and got his series out first, but then I guess Quesada & Buckley are busy whipping Millar like the
proverbial government mule to get Wolverine and, perhaps, Ultimates 2 out on schedule. Personally, I think Ultimate Thor has the most scope for his own mini but I doubt any bugger would be that interested in it. Woe is me.
Ben Morse (Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Nexus & writer of The Watchtower): I’m not terribly keen to pick up any solo series featuring a member of my least favorite team in comics, but I too would grab Thor before Iron Man, Iain. Given that a) the regular Marvel U Iron Man has never sold particularly well, b) the powers that be at Marvel have said time and time again they would limit the number of Ultimate books and c) this character has been little more than a one note alcoholic joke in any issue of Ultimate I’ve flipped through, I’m pretty surprised this title is being launched. I liked Marvel’s original philosophy of only launching Ultimate books when they found the perfect creative team for it and a title or character really demanded it, but this on the heels of the not so great Ultimate FF is showing signs of possible desperation or just poor judgment on Marvel’s part.
“Starman” Matt Morrison (Writer of Looking To The Stars & Nexus reviewer): Although most of my knowledge of Card’s writing is limited to his writing the sword dueling insults for the original Secret of Monkey Island, I’m sure he’ll be the perfect writer for this.
Jason Berek-Lewis (Writer of A View From Over The Edge): Oh cool…I love Ultimate Iron Man…I have always been interested in Iron Man, but never known where or when to jump on to the stories. In fact, the only Iron Man comics I ever bought were the Heroes Reborn issues (don’t stone me!).
I can’t wait for the “Young Guns” Iron Man! And I am sure that if I love that book, Ultimate Iron Man will end up on my ever-growing pull list too!
Jesse Baker (Nexus reviewer): Don’t care given how Marvel seems dead set against having actual super-villains in the Ultimate Universe who aren’t Green Goblin or Magneto connected. That being said, there is potential if they play it straight as super-heroes/super-villains and IM has a TON of old-school villains that could be used in the book…
Michael Lark has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel
Jim Hatton: Go check out the last Roundtable, this is my official TOLDJA SO!
Matt Morrison: And so continues the trend of Marvel snatching up all the artists while DC focuses on getting the quality writers…
Daredevil: Father will conclude in 2005
Jam Hatton: Insert the obvious joke of: For the record, Daredevil: Target is not slated for conclusion in 2005.
Matt Morrison: Great. Will Issue 2 be out before 2005?
Daredevil: Redemption, written by David Hine with art by Michael Gaydos, will launch in February
Jimmy Hatton: I’m loving Hine’s work on District X. He has a great tone for
inner-city voice, so I can’t wait to see what he raises in Hell’s Kitchen.
Iain Burnside: Two unfinished Daredevil mini-series that are long overdue for completion and Marvel goes ahead and books another to further milk the fanboys. Nice one, Joey Q. Seriously, why not just keep this story and use it as an arc in between Bendis’ last issues and whoever takes over?
A Nick Fury series is targeted for late 2005
Jaime Hatton: Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Honestly, this falls under the ‘I
just don’t care’ knowledge, unless it’s Steranko Fury. Nick Fury is a character that, I feel at least, should be used sparingly. A book with him should be a high-action, HIGH political intrigue style title. I’d prefer Ultimate Fury, honestly.
Iain Burnside: Insert some form of David Hasselhoff joke in here, somebody.
Jesse Baker: Don’t care, especially since Marvel has ruined Nick Fury these last couple of years by making him a huge jerk.
Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev will end their run on Daredevil next December
Jay Hatton: Bendis’ Daredevil has been an incredible run. He’s taken the character and given us a few years of excellent stories and no matter what, he won’t be remembered as a strict Miller clone, like every Daredevil writer fears being. Now remember, they’re not talking about December of 2004, they’re talking about Dec. 2005.
Iain Burnside: Yup, so I have the distinct pleasure of getting two more lovely HC books to wrap up Bendis’ run. Honestly though, I’m expecting Daredevil to turn up in
New Avengers so it’s not like Bendis is going to be Murdock-less anytime soon.
Matt Morrison: Damn. Was hoping it would end THIS November so that he didn’t have another year to totally screw up the Marvel timeline further with this return of the original Kingpin story…
Jesse Baker: Thank God! Now if they can just declare the past seven years of DD a bad dream and the franchise will be back on it’s feet after Bendis and Kevin Smith took turns ruining the DD franchise to it’s core…
Hatton: Yep, that’s a bruise that Marvel’s going to wanna wash away as quick as possible. A book that’s been revered with consistent 50,000 sales figures – all the while reinvigorating the franchise stylistically”¦Marvel sure will want to get these two guys out of the way…
RUMOR: Former Gotham Central creative team of writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark will follow Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev on Daredevil; Brad Meltzer’s name has also been mentioned as a possible writer (credit: All The Rage)
J. Hatton: If I was to say what book would be perfect for guys who have just come off of a successful run of Gotham Central, I would either say District X or Daredevil. Lark is going to sink into the shoes that Maleev has set running without missing a step, and his take on the Daredevil family is something I look forward to.
Iain Burnside: Has this actually been confirmed? I thought I read on ATR that Brubaker hadn’t been approached yet. Still, it seems like a natural choice, as would Bendis writing Batman… Hmm, there’s some sort of a crossover to be done there…
Matt Morrison: Lark doesn’t excite me much as an artist, but his style would work well for Daredevil. Either of the writers would thrill me writing Daredevil, but I got to hope for Brubaker more…
Jesse Baker: Just get Joe Kelly to write the book again, complete with a Starlin-esque purge of everything that has happened to the book since Kelly left.
Hatton: Because that promotes change and growth, which we know you love Jesse. Pardon the sarcasm, but for as much as you don’t like Bendis – whatever, but Brubaker and Lark are ALSO a team that has been breathing life into an amazing title in Gotham Central. A book that is like a glove-fit to move onto Daredevil from; live in the now.
Mark Steven Johnson hopeful to go ahead with Daredevil 2 with or without Ben Affleck
Jiminy Hatton: In other news – If Elektra does well, Ben Affleck will be in DD2. Guaranteed.
Iain Burnside: Elektra will do adequately and Fantastic Four will bomb – at least in terms of their potential target audiences. As far as Daredevil 2 is concerned, combining the decreasing returns of most sequels with the current box office poison of Ben Affleck and the childish directing of Mark Steven Johnson – not to mention the declining interest in superhero comic book movies that don’t involve Batman, Spider-Man or the X-Men – is a recipe for natural born flunking if ever I heard one. Then again, somebody is trying to get Police Academy 8 off the ground apparently, so who the hell knows what’s going on in Hollywood. Someone tell them to make Superman, Preacher, Watchmen and Death already…
Ben Morse: With Affleck and Jennifer Garner now hot any heavy, you’ve got to think Jamie is on to something if only because if Elektra succeeds, DD2 would be an opportunity for Ben to prove that he can make a successful movie with a real life girlfriend and people will forget Gigli forever”¦hahaha, I’m kidding of course, nobody will ever forget Gigli”¦
Matt Morrison: Wish in one hand and poop in the other… and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what a Daredevil movie without Ben Affleck would be like: nothing or a mound of dung.
Yes, I know I’m in the minority when it comes to thinking Ben Affleck did Matt Murdock justice. But since everyone I know who complains about Affleck’s performance then launches into a tirade about how he can’t act period and GOD Gigli was bad and why can’t Kevin Smith get anything out on time….
Well, you can see why I don’t take much of that criticism seriously…
I’d like to hope for a Daredevil 2 without Mark Steven Johnson. This is the yutz whose whole justification for turning Matt Murdock into a murderer was so that people wouldn’t think he was ripping off Batman.
Um… hello? The average moviegoer doesn’t know about or probabaly wouldn’t care about the “Batman never kills” rule. And Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher totally blew that to pieces anyway.
Leave it at one. Pray that Elektra turns out half way decent. And bring me the head of Joel Schumacher!
Jason Berek-Lewis: Daredevil was my favorite all-time superhero movie until Spider-Man 2 came along…nonetheless, it was a great flick. I’d be sad to see Ben Affleck step aside from the franchise. I don’t usually like him as an actor, but I thought he was a great Matt Murdock/Daredevil. BUT, This was such a great film that I would hate to see a sequel held up because Affleck won’t commit. The only MAJOR downside is that Jennifer garner wouldn’t be in this one…
The current Galactus arc will be the last for the creative team of Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo on Fantastic Four before they move on to a new project; the new creative team will be announced in a month
Matt Morrison: Glad to see they got a chance to finish what they had planned. Waid and Wieringo did a great job on this title and I spit on all those who say otherwise!
What If? will likely become an annual event
Matt Morrison: Depending on how long people are willing to buy anything with Brian Michael Bendis writing it…
Jesse Baker: Annual as in “Annual Marvel Propaganda That We Are Never Wrong” with such stories as “The Avengers would have destroyed the world If Brian Bendis didn’t kill half the team off and replaced them with his bottom-feeder characters” and “What would the last 14 years of X-Stories be like if Chris Claremont had been allowed to kill Xavier off and replace him with his Mary Sue Magneto like he always intended?”
There are no current plans for Moon Knight
Matt Morrison: And all 132 devout Moon Knight fans plot to organize a petition to demand a Moon Knight title before Winter 2005…
She-Hulk will go on hiatus following #12, but will re-launch with a “second season” approach similar to Runaways (returning in February)
Matt Morrison: Ah yes. The “stir up bad press by canceling a book all the critics on the web love and then bring it back so we look like we listen to our readers and are willing to publish things besides X-Men.” approach…
Ben Morse: Uh”¦Matt”¦they just said they’re not canceling it, that doesn’t make any sense.
Morrison: Well, isn’t that what they did with Runaways? Threaten to cancel it and then all the critics started grousing about how Marvel only published X-titles… and then they said “Well, it was really only going on Hiatus.” and then we all let up on X-Force for a few weeks?
Morse: They’re not threatening to cancel She-Hulk, they’ve already announced that it’s coming back, there’s no question of it’s fate.
Morrison: Well, I’m still going to grouse! Rabble rabble rabble….
Jesse Baker: Curse Ed Brubaker for coming up with the “season” concept to cover up Sleepers being cancelled as an ongoing book. This is stupid marketing people. Stupid Stupid Marketing….
Daron Kappauff (Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Nexus): Not to step on your toes here Jesse, but Sleeper was always setup as a “seasoned” series. On MANY occasions Brubaker stated his fondness for the HBO short TV seasons and wanted to tailor this series in that way. I’m not saying you’re not entitled to your opinion, but if you’re going to “create” stories at least get your facts straight first…
Baker: I’d prefer them to use the term “Mini-Series” instead of “Season.” “Season” reeks of the “I hate writing comics! I wish I was writing tv shows or movies or other forms of ‘legitimate’ writing” elitist crap that has infested comics in the last five years, with the number of writers (Ellis and Millar to name a few) out there who act like writing comics is the most humiliating thing one can do if they are a professional writer….
Kappauff: That’s not how Brubaker sees it at all. He loves what he does; believe me I’ve talked to him about it many times. As I said last time, Brubaker has stated countless times that he’s a fan of the way HBO handles it’s “short season” and wanted to handle Sleeper in much the same way. Again, I’m asking that you not make accusations that you can’t back up with fact.
Mike Maillaro (Writer of Marvel News & Views): I don’t know him personally, but from meeting him and reading interviews with him, Millar doesn’t seem to have disdain for writing comics at all.
Morse: Despite any problems I may have with some of Mark Milla’s work, he does seem to have a genuine love of what he does that I really appreciate, one of the reasons I’m always willing to give him another chance.
Mike Maillaro (Writer of Marvel News & Views): I tend to agree. Personally, I could care less what number my comic is on. If that’s what’s required to save a great book like Runaways, She-Hulk, or Sleeper, then so be it.
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Justice League, the sequel to Formerly Known As The Justice League, will start in JLA Classified in February
Matt Morrison: Yay! We will not be forced to wait months as we feared for this, the sequel to the best JLA story in years.
Ben Morse: I’m very interested to see how this plays out; given that JLA Classified stories can take place in any era, the entire FKAJL cast, Sue & Ralph included, could be intact. Regardless, I can’t wait; with this and Busiek on JLA, it’s a Justice League renaissance in 2005!
Jesse Baker: And if DC has any guts, they’ll alter the artwork so Sue has a “I died and Got Resurrected And All I Got Was a Lousy T-Shirt” shirt on (effectively bringing Sue back to life without having to deal with any problems as far as Identity Crisis’ big revelation) and kiss up to Giffen/DeMatteis so that they come back and write more of their JLA stuff since it beats the hell out of the stuff being released monthly in the main book.
Peter David is NOT the regular writer on Incredible Hulk yet
Matt Morrison: Emphasis on YET. Every Hulk fan I know is hoping he can be talked into sticking around…
HOT BUTTON TOPIC
Tim Stevens (Writer of DC News & Views & Nexus reviewer): I tell you what, let’s all play a new game here. Let’s just throw out one thing that we like about comics these days. And no, it can’t be “Thank God so-and-so is leaving such-and-such book.” Just to remind ourselves why, if the industry sucks as badly as some of these comments would make us believe, we stick with comics anyway. Come on. It’ll be fun.
Ben Morse: Just to stay current, I’ll throw in four from just this week:
-Judd Winick teaching me more about AIDS in the confines of a comic book than I’ve learned via school or the media in 22 years and writing a comic I found so moving it was the first one I’ve ever actually given my mother to show her that the “hobby” I devote so much of my life to and hope to make a living from has some worth (and she agreed).
-Paul Jenkins writing a story in Spectacular Spider-Man that made me smile and remember that at the end of the day I love this stuff because the good guys win; I was laughing right along with Spidey at the end and they could have had him continue laughing for five pages and I wouldn’t have considered it a waste.
-Brad Meltzer crafting a mystery in Identity Crisis that I’ve probably thought over in my head more times in the past twenty four hours than I ever did any test or paper I had to think about in eight years of higher learning.
-Brian Michael Bendis proving to me with Avengers Finale that he can write a four part story I hated and felt more strongly negative about then any other I can remember, and then turn around the next week and prove to me he really did love these characters.
Maybe that last one is the best, because it reminds me that every time I hate a story and think a creator is trying to ruin everything I love, I should remember that more likely than not that creator is an even bigger fan than me and is trying to tell a story he or she legitimately feels is going to take these characters to an incredible new place; I may not agree with them, but I’ve got to respect that and appreciate that they have the courage to try.
Iain Burnside: Thank God for Spectacular Spider-Man #21…
“Dude, he watches ESPN…”
I’m gonna miss you, Jenkins, you crazy son of a
James Hatton: On comics appreciation:
-I love that behind the big corporate machinations of our DC & MARVEL, there is this underbelly of creators doing just that. They generally don’t worry about sales, because they aren’t going to make a lot and know it. They want to create comic books more than sell comic books, and deserve as much praise as a Bendis or a Meltzer.
-J.M.S. has proven that you can take a character that is worn in, fits like a glove, but doesn’t offer you much – and turn it into something you must know about. Not commenting on his stories positively or negatively – it doesn’t matter. He’s taken two completely new spins on the character (the totem-like comparison – which re-facets the entire Marvel U) and the Death of Gwen Stacy and whether you love it conceptually or hate it conceptually, he’s doing it well.
-I’m happy that writers keep proving me wrong. In the last few months I’ve given a couple bad reviews to books that had potential, but didn’t hit the mark with their first arc. Cable/Deadpool and Alpha Flight specifically. Now, both moving into their ‘Buy it or it Dies’ phase, they are showing themselves to be great fun reads that deserve more praise than they have gotten, from me at least.
Stevens: Since I called for the game, I really should contribute.
So, here it goes. I lift a glass to…
…Identity Crisis for giving me that giddy “wish the next issue was out now” feel.
…Paul Jenkins for showing me that he still has some great Spidey stories left in him.
…the Wednesday pilgrimage. Ain’t it grand?
and, finally,
…to my cohorts here who can critique with the best of them and still maintain their love for the medium.
Those are just a few. There are plenty more, but I don’t wish to be overly chatty.
