There is much discussion over on newsarama.com about Joe Q's announcing ten writers at Marvel as being "the Terrific Ten," slated to get all manner of additional support and push to carry them to "the next level." And some fans are voicing indignation that I'm not on the list (Priest's name is also mentioned repeatedly.)
Never fear. I tell you this in the strictest confidence. In fact, this is so secret that ONLY YOU are seeing it. Yes, you. Through groundbreaking technology, this post is being made with a special firewall so that only you, (your name goes here), is actually reading this posting. Everyone else is seeing a photograph of my youngest daughter, Caroline, playing with a puppy. In fact, if you're at work right now, it'd be best if you said, "Awwwwww..." just to cover your tracks in case someone is listening.
The reason I am not part of the Terrific Ten is because I've been assigned to a different group: The Subtle Seven. (We were originally going to be the Secret Six, but that's trademarked DC, plus we picked up one extra guy when the Terrific Ten was cutback from the Excellent Eleven due to budget constraints.)
The Subtle Seven is a group of seven writers whose job is to keep a low profile. Stay off the radar. Make the other guys--who are good, I'll grant you--look even better by not distracting from them.
You may ask, okay, but the Terrific Ten get publicity. What's the Subtle Seven getting out of it?
Cookies.
Each week, we each get a shipment of two dozen chocolate chip cookies. Joe bakes them himself. Comes in a designer tin with little pictures of Marvel characters on it. It's really nice.
Unfortunately, the non-disclosure agreement I've signed precludes me from telling you the other members of the Seven. I mean, how subtle would it be if you KNEW who was on the list? Besides, if I told you, I'd have to--you know--kill you. Which I'd hate to do, and I'd probably wind up tossing my cookies...which would be kind of a shame 'cause Joe works so hard to bake them.
So...the Subtle Seven. Watch for us, whoever the hell we are. And for God's sake, keep it under your hat.
Say it with me: "Awwwwww..."
PAD
Posted by Peter David at October 7, 2005 10:29 AM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingOkay, so there's the Terrific Ten and the Subtle Seven, that equals seventeen (I knew those math classes would come in handy)...Are we really to believe that Marvel has seventeen writers? That seems a bit high to me, since BENDIS! writes half the books, and Millar writes a third...the other fifteen writers must take turns, writing a page of script, then emailing it to the next guy who writes a page, who emails it to the next guy, etc...
PAD, you know, it is okay to just call it a stupid concept and be done with it. Because that's what it is. It's not like anyone's going to fire you from FNSM over it. And if they do, they'll just make you relaunch it and give you six issues to get the most sales.
Man, that puppy is cute! And your daughter is so beautiful.
But, uh, what's this "Terrific Ten" the other comments are talking about?
The Subtle Seven.
I like that. Any chance of joining? We could be The Elusive Eight. It would be quite a step up for me. After all these years I get really tired of people always asking me when am I finally going to leave The Terrible Twos.
:)
Good God. Don't get me started on this. There's one particular writer on that Terrific Ten list that makes me want to punch him in the head every time I see or hear from him. He's like John Byrne only worse.
Don't ask me who because you'd be waiting a long time for me to answer.
Thank you. I feel much better.
But are the Subtle Seven the ones behind everything on LOST? It would explain so much. Actually, no it wouldn't...
Peter, could you let Glenn know that his super-secret technology isn't working that well? Instead of the promised daughter/puppy shot, I seem to have to have been given a link to a video clip of Erik Larsen clubbing a box of kittens. What does he have against pussies anyway?
Ooh! I want cookies! Please, please, please! Also, to respond to the past few posts....Happy birthday, PAD....Erik Larsen needs to downscale the pomposity...have you seen Serenity and what do you think?...I'm glad you are working on such great stuff but it sure looks like I'll have to save all my money for next summer when everything comes out!
Alan
Personally, I think the Subtle Seven should have held out for beer. Make Joe Q send you a case of Heavyweight Perkuno's Hammer every month.
K-nuck: Here's my idea for an ad campaign.
Guiness: Like drinking a loaf of bread. Yum.
dave golbitz: "Are we really to believe that Marvel has seventeen writers? That seems a bit high to me, since BENDIS! writes half the books, and Millar writes a third..."
I guess you won't believe that the reality is that there were 44 different writers listed in the Marvel section of the latest Previews catalog.
Simon Furman
Ed Brubaker
Chris Claremont
Keith Giffen
J. Michael Straczynski
Zeb Wells
Dwayne McDuffie
Dan Slott
Daniel Way
Joe Casey
Brian Michael Bendis
Robert Kirkman
Fabian Nicieza
Brian Vaughan
Sean McKeever
Paul Jenkins
Michael Oeming
Tony Bedard
Rick Veitch
Mike Carey
Greg Pak
Allan Heinberg
Reginald Hudlin
Richard K. Morgan
Joe Quesada
Garth Ennis
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Andy Diggle
Jeff Parker
Fiona Avery
Tom DeFalco
Kevin Smith
Mark Millar
Warren Ellis
Orson Scott Card
Damon Lindelof
Christopher Yost
Craig Kyle
David Hine
Peter David
Peter Milligan
Marc Sumerak
Stuart Moore
Christopher Long
Ok. This has nothing to do with anything here but... Man this is a goofy sight to see. How many jokes have there been on this site about TMNT being everywhere and on everything in some way, shape or form? I was a huge wrestling fan in the late 80's and early 90's as well as a comic book fan and even I never saw this thing before.
Andy Diggle?? He's exclusive to DC.... When did that change?
"PAD, you know, it is okay to just call it a stupid concept and be done with it."
I don't think the concept is stupid. I think getting upset about it is stupid. Well...maybe not stupid. Stupid's your word. "Silly" is probably better.
PAD
1) for those of us able to see this post, is there somewhere we can see the Caroline with puppy picture?
2) As for the 44 writers - Most of that list is a collection of pen names for Bendis & Millar.
BTW - which book(s) are by Rick Veitch? I missed that when I went through Previews.
"K-nuck: Here's my idea for an ad campaign.
Guiness: Like drinking a loaf of bread. Yum."
BB: Guinness is for beginners (although it is a fine example of an Irish Dry Stout). You want a real stout, I'll hook you up. You want the most delicious Irish Dry Stout ever brewed, go find yourself some Black Biddy from the Biddy Early Brewing Co. Yow.
Just out of curiosity, how (by any stretch of the imagination) can Joss Whedon be identified as an "up and coming writer"?
"Andy Diggle?? He's exclusive to DC.... When did that change?"
Nope, he became freelance a few months ago, IIRC.
You mean, somebody else writes for Marvel besides Bendis?
I thought he wrote everything that Marvel's printing these days. :)
"Just out of curiosity, how (by any stretch of the imagination) can Joss Whedon be identified as an "up and coming writer"?"
Because Toy Story was such a low entry point. (sigh)
Well if you go on the basis that most of the 10 are new-esque writers, and Whedon is there to give them some promo rub, it makes sense that PAD's not there.
(and Nicieza is there in the should be on rants with PAD and Priest...its like some kind of .net fanboy trinity).
My main issue is they couldn't find a better name than "Ten Terrific"? (not Terrific Ten as PAD called it, which sounds a little better). Couldn't Marvel's 10 up and coming writers come up with somehting better? Something kick butt...like "The Osmonds"!
This is much ado about nothing. PAD, you don't need additional support to push you to the next level. You can do that yourself. You just need the normal fair marketing and PR that any other writer there should get. So let them put the extra effort behind these other writers (and I don't even know who they are -- it wasn't worth my time to go look). Nice to know you don't need the (dare I say it) "affirmative action." :-)
Nice to see you not only have your sense of humor, your creativity (subtle seven) continues to be quite fun to observe.
Iowa Jim
How about: Ten Writers Not Named Bendis?
Ten Pussies Shilling for "The Man"?
Ten Writers Not Named "Peter"?
Two Basketball Teams Worth of Writers That We Think Are Swell?
I didn't even know PAD had another level....
obscure Friends reference...
The problem with an idea like this is that it will inevitably lead to some hurt feelings...the 27 guys who are neither terrific or subtle must be right pissed about now.
If I were in charge of people I'd try to avoid this sort of thing but Joe Q must think it's gonna do more good than harm. I guess he can argue that folks like PAD are already at "the next level" and one can certainly make that argument. Still, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Dammit K-nuck. I don't have the means to visit Ireland, Japan, Sweden or the UK.
Neither do I, BB. But I've got some people who know some people...
The timing of all this is kinda funny.
Erik pops up for a mindless rant, creators and creations are being discussed, Image is in the fan debate news and now Marvel does this. It kinda reminds me of one of PAD's BIDs from ten years or so back that was a response to the crap storm Image was stirring up.
PAD actually brought something like this up in what was, I think, a Vic Chaulker piece. Vic was going on about how the Image guys were right and how the creators weren't being pushed, i.e. respected, by The Big Two. The response (short version) was pointing out how that was full of it and creators were respected quite well. It was pointed out that Marvel would always push their creations because A) they wouldn't up and leave and B) it was fair and showed more respect.
You had A list creations and B list creations and C list creations anybody could move from an Alpha Flight to an X-Men with no problem. Marvel respected all their talent by really pushing the creations (with some refs to the creators in there) rather then saying, "These are the guys we'll promote the best. These are the guys that we'll promote not as much. These guys are on their own more or less."
It was fair and it showed respect to everybody on the Marvel team. The promotion system wasn't designed to tell creators, even indirectly, that they were only thrid or fourth rate talents.
It's ten years later and it seems that Vic is finally running Marvel.
Hey, at least writers get mentioned. Marvel hasn't mentioned inkers in, what, two years now...? Pretty strange when half their books seem to use two or more inkers per issue...
Are the Subtle 7 anything like the 7 Friendless from Captain Marvel?
Mmmmm, cookies, indeed. Think I'll be baking some up tonight for my wife...
"Mmmmm, cookies, indeed. Think I'll be baking some up tonight for my wife..."
I was sort of thinking along similar lines. Except with beer and falafel (she does the baking, I do the cooking. We both do the beer drinking).
Mine is 37.8 weeks pregnant. I may have some wine (I have to...Dr. orders) but she's a few weeks (maybe days) away from joining me in the booze and cookies routine.
Well, Peter, if you're at all disappointed by not being invited to join the Ten Super-Writer Buddies (or whatever the hell it is that they're calling themselves that I can't be bothered to scroll back upwards to re-read), I'm inviting you to join my own little group of professional writers. There are five of us, and like all good trade organizations, its only two purposes are to congratulate ourselves for making it in and to exclude other people from joining.
We wouldn't be inviting you to join us at all, naturally, but one of the group suggested that maybe the whole concept was pointless and self-aggrandizing, so we shot him.
LMK via private email and enclose your kimono size. Also, do you have a gun already?
I also assume there's a policy that these "comp cookies" cannot be sold anywhere, including to other "cookie shops" in NYC nor on eBay? Wouldn't want you getting immediately terminated.
You know, wine and cookies might actually work. A nice imperial stout works well with cookies as well (chocolate, preferably).
K-Nuck: Well, hook me up on the down low! Do you accept PayPal?! :-)
Hell, no. Charging is un-American. Trade is the way to go. Shoot me an email at knucklesbuchanan@hotmail.com
Oh my lord, you actually took the time to list every Marvel writer listed in Previews. Um...thanks? Way to take an (admittedly poor) stab at humor too seriously.
I'm not 100% certain, but I think PAD's gonna be okay.
It's just a way to advertise the newbies at Marvel. No biggie. It's like the writer version of the "Young Guns" concept.
I am a little skeptical about listing Joss Whedon as an "up and coming" writer too, though. Not only because he's done such well known work already, but because I doubt he'll be sticking around. After Astonishing X-Men's second year is done, he'll probably be back off to Hollywood where his work has already proliferated and he can make a lot more money (making him more "here and gone" than "up and coming"). Astonishing X-Men is probably a side project at best. A good side project but still a side project. Of course, if he does then go on to accept new comic work right off the heels of AXM, then I will gladly eat my hat . . . with salt.
AdamYJ:
It's just a way to advertise the newbies at Marvel.
Why does Joss Whedon need to be hyped? Especially since he's only doing one book. I mean, the whole point of the Terrific Ten is to boost sales. Whedon's book already does pretty darn well (the fact that it's the flagship X-book notwithstanding). So why not select another talented writer who is writing multiple books? The potential sales increase is greater, I think. I mean, everybody who is going to read Astonishing X-men most likely already is. I don't see the sense from a raising sales perspective.
Unless Whedon's name among the TT somehow adds credibility to the other names on the list. "Daniel Way's on that list with Joss Whedon? Darn, I'd better pick up his books!"
How is Daniel Way? Good?
I thought it was a list of people who can write. So why is Bendis' name on it?
Geez. What a cute picture. ;o)
Look at all them posts. People love your daughter and puppy.
^ Wow, I'm just terribly clever.
So, is there any chance my girlfriend can get the recipe for the cookies? They sound yummy!
Lee Whiteside
Hey PAD, where can I get one of those cookie tins? If you haven't put yours on Ebay yet would you be willing to part with it?
Who's getting upset about it? I think it would be fine just call the whole thing "stupid" rather than writing an entire entry that tries to spoof it.
Dear PAD:
Not to be a brown-noser, but to me you're the "Only One." The last time I was in a comic shop was for Hulk #86. The next time I go into a comic store will be for Fallen Angel Vol.2, #1.
(After 2 issues, "Destruction" just ain't doin'it for me.(I told I wasn't brown-nosin'.))
PS. I will be checking out your first issue of Spiderman as well.
My only concern; are we certain those chips in the cookies are really chocolate?
See, PAD, it doesn't matter if you're on the Terrific Ten, the Subtle Seven, or the Not-listed Nine! It's the subtle (yet powerful) blend of humor, sarcasm, and wit evident in your post that ensures the fact that you will always have legions of fans around the globe.
Well, that and the hope that they can score some of those cookies off of you. :)
Bill
I think you got cheated on the cookies..I like toast and it more gooder than cookies.....
Just be careful if Joe Q switches your shipment to brownies.
[THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED INTO NON-EXISTENCE BY PAD. PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO IMPERSONATE OTHERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. IN THE FUTURE, I REQUEST THAT EVERYONE IGNORE ANY SUCH POSTS THAT THEY SEE. IT ENCOURAGES SUCH TROLLS, AND WILL ULTIMATELY BE RENDERED MOOT SINCE SUCH POSTS WILL BE DELETED IN SHORT ORDER IN ANY EVENT.
THANK YOU.]
Had Bendis actually lost his mind and social graces, he'd have at least bmade it amusing.
Subtle Seven. That's pretty funny. But I never thought in a million years I would hear PAD refer to himself as "subtle."
As for the joke that Bendis and Millar are writng all the books. That must explain why I don't pick up any Marvel books anymore.
um this 'terrific ten' concept sounds like it is backed by a dictatorship to me.
if it were a democracy most of the "terrific ten" would land in the "eighty-six can"
Veitch is doing one of the What If one-shots.
Thanks for the info.
Just to clear up the earlier "Bendis" comment. That is our resident Troll who must not be fed.
Figures. Didn't sprinkle enough F words into the posting to really be a Bendis piece.
Actually, I've met Bendis quite a few times (granted this was back before he became Mr. Marvel) but I always found him to be courteous and friendly. He actually gave me a piece of artwork he did (yep, boys and girls, he USED to be a drawer and tracer too!) for AKA Goldfish.
You don't want to be in the Terrific Ten anyway. I have it on good authority that eventually they all get put into a pit to fight to the death until only one survives.
I think it would be more prestigious to be in the Nattering Nabobic Nine
LOL...I really do love your commentary and subtle quips and wit on things.
And seriously demand more then cookies! You should be getting Milk delivered by him special Spidey bottles.
"X-Ray is BACK?!?!?!?"
Don't even joke like that BB. Its not funny.
Anyway, trolls seem to be cylical, with a new one showing up about every four months. Alas, 'tis the curse of the blogger. Especially a popular one like PAD.
oh, and hey, PAD, can I have a cookie? :)
Hmm... very interesting blog you've got here. The Marvel fan-people have been in chaos since 'That Arc Which Shall Not Be Named'.
I linked here from a newsrama interview, and it mentioned a few titles you'll be doing. I could've sworn I'd seen that you'll be writng ASM soon. Is this true? I have no idea how many people agree with me, but I'm ready for a break from JMS once The Other is finished.
Stephanie: He's writing 1 issue of Amazing Spider-Man, the issue that's in arc 1/Month 1 of "THE OTHER" storyline.
PAD will be writing FNSM, ASM, and MK:SM the first month, then Reggie, then JMS.
then everyone runs back to their own titles, PAD on FNSM, JMS on ASM, and Reggie on MK:SM.
Do we assume that that actually is David Hine wanting cookies?
Well, I'd hazard a guess at the answer being yes, since he didn't ask for brownies. :p
Terrific ten? Give me a break. They can't hold a candle to guys like you, Michelinie, Fabian, and a whole list of others Marvel has let go. Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading them!
PAD, you are my favorite Subtle Seven writer! All the other guys clearly don't deserve to be on the Subtle Seven list ;)
A Great article on this by Steven Grant in his Permanent Damage weekly column.
www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=10
Had a few people ask me what I thought of Marvel's "Terrific Ten," and my kneejerk response was...
What the hell's the Terrific Ten?
Someone told me they were Marvel's hot writers for the next generation: Allan Heinberg, David Hine, Reggie Hudlin, Robert Kirkman, Sean McKeever, Greg Pak, Roberto Sacasa, Dan Slott, Daniel Way and Joss Whedon.
Well, I'm happy Marvel's putting effort behind marketing writers. Beyond that...
I don't know that I've read any Marvel work by any of these guys. I like Reggie Hudlin and Robert Kirkman's work just fine. I know Sean McKeever, Dan Slott and Daniel Way are certainly enthusiastic. Joss Whedon has at least gone to bat for VERONICA MARS. But whether any of them can write Marvel comics or not, I couldn't say. I don't read Marvel comics much. I mean, I'm happy enough to read them if someone sends them to me, I don't condemn them out of hand or anything, but I don't go hunting for them. I don't download bootlegs off the web. It's just the way things worked out. I haven't even read any of Warren Ellis' recent Marvel stuff, and Warren's a guy whose work I will go out of my way for. I'll read collections like Brian Bendis' DAREDEVIL when they surface at the library. But most "mainstream" comics are variations on a theme, and the theme gets old after awhile. I don't know what Marvel's like these days but it used to be fairly straitjacketed about the kind of material it would use, and not everyone's a good fit for that material. Though the blessed were often allowed end runs around "editorial standards." Maybe it's not that way anymore, but if it's not I don't see much evidence of limitless creative license. So, Terrific Ten. Fine by me.
It's just a marketing ploy anyway. I know it's a marketing ploy. Joe Quesada knows it's a marketing ploy. He says so right in the press release. They're trying to pimp these guys. Good for them. Good for the guys.
It's not like it means anything anyway.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a movie coming up in the very near future, an adaptation of the computer game DOOM. Before his acting career, of course, The Rock was a wrestler, and before he was The Rock, he was Rocky Maivia, combining the wrestling names of his father and his grandfather. (Before that, he was Flex Kavana, but that's another story.) I remember when the WWE (then the WWF, before the World Wildlife Foundation sank their teeth into them) introduced Rocky to the breathless audiences, and put him over as the salvation of wrestling. Before his first match was over, a chant filled the air:
ROCKY SUCKS!
He had a great pedigree, incredible natural ability, a decent look, but wrestling fans have a tendency to resist wrestlers being shoved down their throats. Rocky's initial push was meteoric before he proved he was worthy of the fans' attention. "ROCKY SUCKS" chased him out of the ring after a few matches, and into a sabbatical. He was to be the WWE's clean cut hope for the future; they didn't yet see Stone Cold Steve Austin on the horizon, or how the face of wrestling would change in the late '90s. When Rocky returned, it was as a member of the Nation Of Domination, a "black power" wrestling gang. The "ROCKY SUCKS" chants came back. This time Rocky started trash-talking back, and it turned out he was a wonderfully entertaining speaker. He was a heel but he was a charismatic heel. He had shown neither charisma nor speaking ability in his earlier incarnation. The more he told the fans he didn't care what they thought ("candyass trailer park trash" was his favorite epithet for them), the more they embraced him. Before long, Rocky supplanted the leader of The Nation Of Domination, started referring to himself in the third person as "The Rock," and became the hottest thing in wrestling next to Austin, and they were about on the same level.
"The people will think..." "...what I want them to think!" is a famous line from Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE, and certainly it has been embraced by hundreds of promoters in every conceivable field. But they don't in the movie, and they frequently don't in life, particularly when it comes to media product. Audiences have a fickle way of making up their own minds. Marvel can identify anyone they want as a young, hot talent - and the history of comics is littered with the careers of editors who believed some discovery was The Next Great Thing and neither are even remembered now - and if The Ten are the designated drivers of Marvel's future, that's cool too, but ultimately you don't tell fans who's hot. Fans tell you. (I'm reminded of a time when Marvel was pushing... um... who were they again?... while fans paid attention instead to some unknown artist named Frank Miller on the third tier book DAREDEVIL that was barely hanging on and demanding that an obscure IRON FIST artist named John Byrne be given a shot at a major Marvel title...)
Marvel can say anything it wants, but ultimately only two things will matter: the work, and the reaction to it. We'll see. And I'm surprised I have to tell anyone that.
All that aside, it seems to me that any "Terrific Ten" list of Marvel writers that doesn't have Ed Brubaker on it is intrinsically flawed...